The various detrimental effects of unchecked capitalism on the world today, and how we as Christians can respond
The night streets are empty during lockdown, but I duck through back alleys to avoid checkpoints and prying questions. It's past curfew and I don't have a pass. I reach a home cobbled together from bamboo and discarded plastic and peek in a doorway. "I know times are hard for everyone, I want to help." …
If you've been reading this blog more than a year (or any other blog I've authored) you know I think American Christmas is a flashpoint for our greatest societal dilemmas. Will we put our faith in God, or will we trust in wealth and possessions? Which one do we celebrate? If an alien being observed …
I was gonna write something else this week but this one is stuck on my heart. Our dear friend Aslam was recently diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer. The shock came just a year after he got married, a month before his son was to be born. The news has been a roller coaster - the …
Basil the Great, among the most renowned of the early Church fathers, states: When the prophet wished to describe in words those who have attained perfection, those who are about to attain to everlasting life, he reckoned among their noble works the following: “They do not lend money at interest.” This sin is denounced in …
I posted about my friends' loss of their fathers because I was thinking about Danish. He left the slum two weeks ago to work in Saudi Arabia. He will be gone two years. Away from his home, his family, his country. They saw it as the best option for Danish to begin to help the …
Advertisers work to make us insecure, feel that our lives won't be good enough until we buy more things. Technology is designed to be obsolete within a year, to be replaced by expensive new products. Clothes go out of fashion by the next season. Consumer goods break down before the next holiday rolls around. Many …
Manny was a friend in Manila, living in the same slum as me. He had just had his first child. He loved that kid. Manny, who years earlier had been saved from a life of drug-dealing, wanted to go to Bible college and become a pastor. But he could not afford to go. I watched …
Stranger in a Slum 